July 1, 2002. We had such a great time in Cape Cod this past weekend. I played the role of SPF Queen: anytime someone pulled out a bottle of SPF 15, I'd snatch it away and replace it with some SPF 48 I have. I may not have been popular, but I'm happy to say that no one got burned at all. Despite my SPF aggression, it was great fun to hang out on the beach and jump in the waves for a while. Though I seem to have gotten poison ivy. Oops.

On the way home, the guy in the tollbooth at the Maine toll told us, "Busses are free today!" (we were in the van). He had a beard and a long ponytail, so I'm guessing it was some sort of hippie generosity. Very nice.

I found out my friend Emily recorded one of her essays to read on "All Things Considered"! She's not sure when it's going to be on, maybe not until September, since it was about being a teacher. I just think it's the coolest thing that she's going to be on the radio.

On Sunday morning, we were all reading the paper and drinking coffee, when suddenly I saw a basset hound meandering across the lawn. I just yelled, "Basset Hound!" and ran out to pet her. She was very old, and sort of flopped down for a giant massage (thank you, Jenn, for running out with me, so I didn't look like a lonely dogcrazy nut). According to the dog's collar, her name was Bessie, and she was very friendly and waggy while Jenn and I scritched her back and head. She was also clearly very old, and you always have to feel sorry for basset hounds, especially old ones, since their bodies are obviously not built for easy movement. When she finally decided to lumber away and into the next yard, it was sort of painful to watch her throwing her little stumpy legs around to try to propel herself forward. Still, very cute, and I always love random friendly animal encounters. (Postscript: I went looking for a picture a basset hound to draw, but it turns out they're not easy to draw. It keeps coming out looking like Snoopy. Anyway, no need to draw one when you can see these hilarious pictures of basset hound agility trials. Fly, Buster, fly!)

After Bessie, five of us did yoga on the lawn, which is exactly where yoga should be done: early morning, on a lawn near the water, 70 degrees. It was lovely.

We ate a ton of food, all incredibly yummy, especially Ellen's deviled eggs and Ian's pancakes, and of course Dave's black eyed pea salsa, which I would cross mountains to eat.